| Cardiac Rehabilitation What is cardiac rehabilitation?
Cardiac rehabilitation is physician-supervised, often times physician-prescribed, program
for people who have either congenital or acquired heart disease. Program participants
may or may not have had a heart attack or heart surgery (or other heart
procedures). Cardiac rehabilitation can often improve functional capacity, reduce
symptoms, and create a sense of well-being for patients.
What conditions may benefit from cardiac rehabilitation?
Conditions or cardiac procedures that may necessitate
cardiac rehabilitation may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- congestive heart failure
- angina pectoris
- myocardial infarction
- post-open heart surgery
- post-heart transplantation
- balloon angioplasty
- pacemaker
- congenital heart disease
- arrhythmias
- rheumatic heart disease
The cardiac rehabilitation team:
Cardiac rehabilitation programs can be conducted while a person is a
hospital inpatient, or on an outpatient basis. Many skilled professionals are part of the
cardiac rehabilitation team, including any/all of the following:
- cardiologist / cardiovascular surgeon
- physiatrist
- internist
- rehabilitation nurse
- dietitian
- physical therapist
- occupational therapist
- speech / language therapist
- psychologist / psychiatrist
- recreational therapist
- audiologist
- chaplain
- vocational therapist
The cardiac rehabilitation program:
A cardiac rehabilitation program is designed to meet the needs of the individual patient,
depending upon the specific heart problem or disease, and should be supervised by a
cardiac physician and a cardiac team of professionals.
The goal of cardiac rehabilitation is to help patients reverse their symptoms and
maximize cardiac function. Cardiac rehabilitation includes, but is not limited to, the
following activities:
- establishing a progressive exercise program to build fitness and functional capacity
- providing educational classes to help adjust to or change the patient's lifestyle and
habits, such as:
- smoking cessation classes
- nutrition classes
- offering stress management techniques and techniques to reduce anxiety
- counseling and educating the patient with regards to his/her specific heart
condition/disease and the best management approach for that specific condition
- preparing the patient to return to work -- equipping him/her to meet the physical and
psychological demands of the job
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